Effective date: 01.01.2024. The federal-law foundations are referenced to this status. Cantonal practice details, authority information, procedural benchmark figures and fees are volatile; for their respective current status, this text refers to the official sources (cantonal website, cantonal systematic compilation of laws, SEM directory) rather than reproducing changeable individual values.

This text explains the migration law applicable in the Canton of Schaffhausen. It is not individual legal advice, not strategic advice in an individual case and not a recommendation regarding the choice of canton of residence. SwissImmigrationPro represents no one and provides no case-specific legal assessment; the professional representation of parties is reserved to the legal profession (Federal Act on the Freedom of Movement for Lawyers, Art. 12 (SR 935.61) BGFA).

1. Overview — the Canton of Schaffhausen in the migration-law context

The Canton of Schaffhausen (SH) is the northernmost canton of Switzerland. It lies largely north of the Rhine and is mostly surrounded by the Federal Republic of Germany. Its capital is the city of Schaffhausen. The border location with southern Germany shapes a pronounced cross-border employment constellation (cf. section 10, descriptive).

The canton has well under one hundred thousand inhabitants; the share of the resident population without Swiss citizenship is, in order of magnitude, around roughly one quarter. This figure is a descriptive order of magnitude and not an official statistic; the current figures can be retrieved from the Federal Statistical Office or the cantonal statistical office.

Economically, Schaffhausen is small but industrialised; its proximity to the border favours cross-border employment relationships. The cantonal authority responsible for all residence-law procedures is the Migration Office of the Canton of Schaffhausen (current contact details and accessibility: see section 3).

2. Legal foundations — federal law and cantonal implementing law

2.1 Applicable federal law

In migration law, the Canton of Schaffhausen applies — like all cantons — federal law as a priority. Each norm is identified below, at its first mention, by its full name and its number in the Classified Compilation of Federal Law (SR):

  • the Federal Act on Foreign Nationals and Integration (FNIA, SR 142.20), in particular admission to gainful employment (Art. 18 et seq. FNIA), residence for the purpose of education and further training (Art. 27 FNIA), the hardship-case regime (Art. 30 para. 1 let. b FNIA), the permit and residence regime (Art. 33 FNIA and Art. 34 FNIA), family reunification (Art. 42 et seq. FNIA) as well as the dissolution of the family community (Art. 50 FNIA);
  • the Ordinance on Admission, Residence and Gainful Employment (OASA, SR 142.201), in particular Art. 31 OASA (hardship-case criteria), Art. 60a OASA and Art. 77d OASA (proof of language skills), Art. 73 OASA (family reunification) as well as Art. 85 OASA and Art. 86 OASA (approval procedure);
  • the Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons (AFMP, SR 0.142.112.681) between Switzerland and the EU, together with the associated ordinance on the introduction of the free movement of persons (OFMP) for nationals of the EU/EFTA;
  • the Asylum Act (AsylA, SR 142.31), in particular Art. 27 AsylA (allocation to the cantons) and Art. 102f AsylA (advice and legal representation in the asylum procedure);
  • the Swiss Citizenship Act (SCA, SR 141.0) for the naturalisation requirements under federal law as well as — as a separate enactment — the Swiss Citizenship Ordinance (SCO, SR 141.01) for their concretisation, in particular the proof of language skills (see section 7);
  • as well as the relevant SEM directives and practice and the Confederation's approval requirement (Art. 99 FNIA).

For the in-depth legal presentation, see the AIG and VZAE glossary, the FZA/VFP glossary and the Asylum Act glossary.

2.2 Cantonal implementing law

At cantonal level, particularly relevant are the cantonal introductory and implementing law to the FNIA, the cantonal citizenship act (cantonal concretisation of the naturalisation procedure, see section 7) as well as the cantonal administrative-justice and procedural law for proceedings before the cantonal administrative authorities.

The formal designations and the cantonal enactment numbers may change; in the present text they are deliberately named generically and can be retrieved via the cantonal systematic compilation of laws (accessible at https://www.sh.ch).

3. Responsible authority — contact and accessibility

The authority responsible for all foreign-nationals-law procedures in the canton is the Migration Office of the Canton of Schaffhausen. Through this office, B, L, C and G permits, renewals, status changes as well as family-reunification applications are processed in particular; it also coordinates the cantonal asylum and naturalisation areas.

  • Name: Migration Office of the Canton of Schaffhausen
  • Host canton / portal: Canton of Schaffhausen — https://www.sh.ch
  • Office page: https://www.sh.ch/de/verwaltung/aemter-behoerden/migrationsamt.html
  • Address, telephone, e-mail, opening hours, public-transport links and online procedures: the current contact and accessibility details are to be taken from the official page of the Migration Office (linked above). These details are not reproduced here, as they are changeable; the official source is authoritative.

The benchmark for the processing time and the approval-related renewals are presented in section 4.

4. Procedure duration — cantonal benchmarks

The following figures are benchmarks and may vary considerably depending on the state of the file, the completeness of the documents, the workload of the office and the complexity of the case. They are not official service-level commitments of the Migration Office.

Preliminary note on SEM approval: in approval-subject constellations, the cantonal decision is a preliminary decision that requires the approval of the State Secretariat for Migration (Art. 99 FNIA in conjunction with Art. 85 OASA and Art. 86 OASA). In these cases, the duration of the federal approval procedure is added to the cantonal processing time, which can extend the total duration by additional weeks to months. The benchmarks named below relate exclusively to the cantonal part of the procedure.

ProcedureBenchmark duration (descriptive)
Basic benchmark (general, cantonal part)around 4 weeks
First B application (employment, family reunification)tends to be longer than the basic benchmark
B renewaltends to be shorter than the basic benchmark
C application (ordinary / early)depends on the scope of examination; retrievable via the cantonal website
Family reunification (third country)depends on the scope of examination and the approval requirement

The current official processing times are to be retrieved via the cantonal website; the above figures serve solely for rough orientation.

5. Proof of language skills

The procedural language and the authoritative language of proof in the Canton of Schaffhausen is German (Standard German; Swiss German is not relevant for the examination).

  • Family reunification from a third country: for the granting of a B residence permit in the context of family reunification, the federal-law order as a rule requires proof of German skills at level A1 oral under the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR).
  • Early C settlement permit after five years: here the federal-law minimum standard requires a level of B1 oral and A2 written in German (Art. 60a OASA for the language skills, Art. 77d OASA for the recognised proofs).

The fide certificate in the German language is accepted as officially recognised proof. Alongside it, the diplomas and certificates named in Art. 77d OASA apply (in particular telc, Goethe and ÖSD certificates at the corresponding level). Since cantonal interpretations of the federal-law minimum language standards may diverge in individual points, the proofs required in the individual case are to be reconciled with the current Schaffhausen practice.

6. Standard permit practice B / L / C

The Canton of Schaffhausen applies the federal-law standard practice under the FNIA, OASA and the SEM directives. The permit types are governed by Art. 33 FNIA and Art. 34 FNIA as well as by the AFMP for nationals of the EU/EFTA.

  • B (residence permit): for gainfully employed persons (third country: Art. 18 et seq. FNIA; EU/EFTA: under the AFMP), for education and further training (Art. 27 FNIA) as well as in the context of family reunification (Art. 42 et seq. FNIA).
  • L (short-term permit): for time-limited gainful activities and temporary residence purposes.
  • C (settlement permit): ordinary granting after ten years (Art. 34 para. 2 FNIA). The early granting after five years in the case of successful integration is governed by Art. 34 para. 4 FNIA; the implementing criteria are found in the ordinance (Art. 60a OASA for the integration and language skills, Art. 77d OASA for the recognised language proofs). The early granting lies within the discretion of the cantonal authority and presupposes, among other things, increased language skills, economic self-sufficiency without recourse to social assistance, orderly financial circumstances and an impeccable reputation.
  • G (cross-border permit): practically significant in view of the border location with southern Germany (cf. section 10, descriptive); the granting takes place under the AFMP or — for third-country nationals — under the foreign-nationals-law provisions.

Note on approval: the early C granting may, in the constellations designated by the Confederation, likewise be subject to the approval of the State Secretariat for Migration (Art. 99 FNIA). The exact approval requirement is governed by the current state of the SEM directives and is to be clarified in the individual case with the Migration Office.

Note on fees: the granting and renewal of permits are subject to a fee. The authoritative amounts result from the cantonal or federal fee schedule and can be retrieved via the official sources; they are not quantified here, as they are changeable and do not constitute a criterion for the choice of a canton.

Anti-scope: SwissImmigrationPro provides no strategic advice on the permit or family-reunification constellation in the individual case. The case-specific assessment of the admission requirements and of the indeterminate legal concepts (in particular "successful integration", Art. 34 para. 4 FNIA) belongs to legal practice and to the competent authorities.

7. Naturalisation

Naturalisation in Switzerland follows a three-tier procedure: federal (federal naturalisation authorisation under the Citizenship Act and the Citizenship Ordinance), cantonal (citizenship of the Canton of Schaffhausen under the cantonal citizenship act) and communal (citizenship of the municipality of residence). All three levels must be met cumulatively.

At federal level, the requirements of the Swiss Citizenship Act (SCA, SR 141.0) apply, which has been in force in its revised version since 1 January 2018: in particular a residence duration of ten years in Switzerland (Art. 9 SCA) as well as the suitability and integration criteria (Art. 11 SCA and Art. 12 SCA). The proof of language skills — B1 oral and A2 written in a national language (in the Canton of Schaffhausen: German) — is regulated not in the act but, as a separate enactment, in the Swiss Citizenship Ordinance (Art. 6 (SR 141.01) SCO). For the in-depth presentation, see the glossary on the 2018 Citizenship Act.

At cantonal and communal level, in addition to the residence duration under federal law, there are own residence requirements as well as, where applicable, a communal hearing or proof of integration / knowledge. These requirements are regulated in the cantonal citizenship act and in the communal regulation and may vary between municipalities; they can be retrieved via the cantonal systematic compilation of laws and the respective municipality of residence.

Anti-scope: SwissImmigrationPro makes no recommendation as to in which municipality an application would be "easier" or "harder". Such a recommendation would be a case-specific legal assessment and remains reserved to the legal profession or the competent authorities (Art. 12 (SR 935.61) BGFA).

8. Asylum in the canton

In the accelerated asylum procedure, the first phase takes place in a Federal Asylum Centre (FAC) of the responsible asylum region. If an application is transferred into the extended procedure, the allocation to a canton takes place according to the Confederation's distribution key (Art. 27 AsylA); the allocated person then lives in the Canton of Schaffhausen and is subject to the cantonal asylum coordination.

  • Asylum region / FAC assignment: the asylum region authoritative for Schaffhausen and the responsible Federal Asylum Centre can be retrieved via sem.admin.ch.
  • Legal advice and legal representation in the asylum procedure: the right to free advice and legal representation in the asylum procedure is anchored in federal law (Art. 102f AsylA). The organisation mandated for the respective asylum region can be retrieved via sem.admin.ch as well as via the Swiss Refugee Council (osar.ch).

For the in-depth presentation of asylum law, see the Asylum Act glossary.

9. Taxes and withholding tax — migration-law context

Foreign nationals in gainful employment without a C settlement permit are as a rule subject, for their employment income, to withholding tax (tax deduction directly by the employer). The withholding taxation of employment income is levied and administered at cantonal level, on the basis of the harmonised tax law of the Confederation and the cantons; authoritative for Schaffhausen is the cantonal tax administration.

If the annual gross employment income exceeds a threshold set uniformly nationwide (currently CHF 120,000), a subsequent ordinary assessment (SOA) takes place ex officio; the tax amount already collected at source is thereby credited. For lower incomes, the withholding tax in principle has a final effect; a subsequent ordinary assessment may take place upon request under the statutory conditions. With the granting of the C settlement permit or with marriage to a person with Swiss citizenship, the withholding-tax liability for the employment income ends, and the ordinary assessment applies.

The exact legal framework, the applicable tariffs and the thresholds result from the federal law on withholding tax and the cantonal tax law; they can be retrieved via the cantonal tax administration. A qualitative classification of the cantonal tax burden is deliberately omitted here, as it is neither advice nor an appropriate criterion for the choice of a canton of residence.

Anti-scope: SwissImmigrationPro is not tax advice. For questions on withholding tax, on the subsequent ordinary assessment, on tax status or on double-taxation questions, the cantonal tax administration or a qualified tax adviser is to be consulted.

10. Economy and largest municipalities

Schaffhausen is the northernmost canton of Switzerland and is largely surrounded by Germany. The canton is known beyond the region for the Rhine Falls near Neuhausen. The economy is small but industrialised; cross-border employment relationships with southern Germany are widespread (cf. the G cross-border permit, section 6). This descriptive classification serves for geographical and economic orientation and is not advice.

Among the largest municipalities of the canton are (descriptive):

  • Schaffhausen (capital)
  • Neuhausen am Rheinfall
  • Thayngen

Further structural indicators — such as the share of foreign nationals or rent-price levels — are volatile orientation figures and are not reproduced here as fixed values; the Federal Statistical Office and the cantonal statistical office provide current data.

11. Anti-scope declaration for the Canton of Schaffhausen

In the present content, SwissImmigrationPro makes available cantonal practice information that facilitates orientation in Schaffhausen migration law. Expressly not covered are:

  • strategic advice in the individual case — namely hardship-case argumentation (Art. 30 para. 1 let. b FNIA, Art. 31 OASA), family-reunification strategy and permit strategy;
  • appeal, legal-remedy and deadline advice — no appeal submissions, no templates, no deadline calculators;
  • anti-canton-shopping pointers — no recommendation to apply in another canton because the practice there appears "more favourable", and no comparative value judgements on the "strictness" or "leniency" of a canton;
  • tax advice — no optimisation of the withholding-tax position or of the subsequent ordinary assessment;
  • positioning or location advice on the choice of the canton of residence.

Anyone needing a case-specific legal assessment turns to a lawyer entered in the cantonal bar register (Art. 12 (SR 935.61) BGFA), to a legal advice office for asylum seekers (in the asylum constellation, Art. 102f AsylA) or to the competent cantonal or communal authority. For victim support — in particular in constellations of domestic violence with a connection to Art. 50 FNIA — the Victim Support Act (Art. 1 (SR 312.5) OHG) applies; the cantonal victim-support advice centres can be retrieved via the cantonal website. The bodies named in the present content are first orientation points and not a recommendation in the legal-advisory sense.

12. Cross-References